Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66[a]
For the music director, a song, a psalm.
66 Shout out praise to God, all the earth!
2 Sing praises about the majesty of his reputation.[b]
Give him the honor he deserves![c]
3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear[d] before you.
4 All the earth worships[e] you
and sings praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” (Selah)
5 Come and witness[f] God’s exploits![g]
His acts on behalf of people are awesome.[h]
6 He turned the sea into dry land;[i]
they passed through the river on foot.[j]
Let us rejoice in him there.[k]
7 He rules[l] by his power forever;
he watches[m] the nations.
Stubborn rebels should not exalt[n] themselves. (Selah)
8 Praise[o] our God, you nations.
Loudly proclaim his praise.[p]
9 He preserves our lives[q]
and does not allow our feet to slip.
10 For[r] you, O God, tested us;
you purified us like refined silver.
11 You led us into a trap;[s]
you caused us to suffer.[t]
12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;
we passed through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a wide open place.[u]
13 I will enter[v] your temple with burnt sacrifices;
I will fulfill the vows I made to you,
14 which my lips uttered
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices,
along with the smell of sacrificial rams.
I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah)
16 Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God.[w]
I will declare what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him for help[x]
and praised him with my tongue.[y]
18 If I had harbored sin in my heart,[z]
the Lord would not have listened.
19 However, God heard;
he listened to my prayer.
20 God deserves praise,[aa]
for[ab] he did not reject my prayer
or abandon his love for me.[ac]
Psalm 67[ad]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm, a song.
67 May God show us his favor[ae] and bless us.[af]
May he smile on us.[ag] (Selah)
2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;
all nations will know how you deliver your people.[ah]
3 Let the nations thank you, O God.
Let all the nations thank you.[ai]
4 Let foreigners[aj] rejoice and celebrate.
For you execute justice among the nations,
and govern the people living on earth.[ak] (Selah)
5 Let the nations thank you, O God.
Let all the nations thank you.[al]
6 The earth yields its crops.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God bless us.[am]
Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves.[an]
Psalm 19[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
19 The heavens declare the glory of God;[b]
the sky displays his handiwork.[c]
2 Day after day it speaks out;[d]
night after night it reveals his greatness.[e]
3 There is no actual speech or word,
nor is its[f] voice literally heard.
4 Yet its voice[g] echoes[h] throughout the earth;
its[i] words carry[j] to the distant horizon.[k]
In the sky[l] he has pitched a tent for the sun.[m]
5 Like a bridegroom it emerges[n] from its chamber;[o]
like a strong man it enjoys[p] running its course.[q]
6 It emerges from the distant horizon,[r]
and goes from one end of the sky to the other;[s]
nothing can escape[t] its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect
and preserves one’s life.[u]
The rules set down by the Lord[v] are reliable[w]
and impart wisdom to the inexperienced.[x]
8 The Lord’s precepts are fair[y]
and make one joyful.[z]
The Lord’s commands[aa] are pure[ab]
and give insight for life.[ac]
9 The commands to fear the Lord are right[ad]
and endure forever.[ae]
The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy
and absolutely just.[af]
10 They are of greater value[ag] than gold,
than even a great amount of pure gold;
they bring greater delight[ah] than honey,
than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.
11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there;[ai]
those who obey them receive a rich reward.[aj]
12 Who can know all his errors?[ak]
Please do not punish me for sins I am unaware of.[al]
13 Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant sins;[am]
do not allow such sins to control me.[an]
Then I will be blameless,
and innocent of blatant[ao] rebellion.
14 May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight,[ap]
O Lord, my sheltering rock[aq] and my redeemer.[ar]
Psalm 46[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style;[b] a song.
46 God is our strong refuge;[c]
he is truly our helper in times of trouble.[d]
2 For this reason we do not fear[e] when the earth shakes,[f]
and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea,[g]
3 when its waves[h] crash[i] and foam,
and the mountains shake[j] before the surging sea.[k] (Selah)
4 The river’s channels bring joy to the city of God,[l]
the special, holy dwelling place of[m] the Most High.[n]
5 God lives within it,[o] it cannot be moved.[p]
God rescues it[q] at the break of dawn.[r]
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are overthrown.[s]
God[t] gives a shout,[u] the earth dissolves.[v]
7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is on our side.[w]
The God of Jacob[x] is our stronghold.[y] (Selah)
8 Come, Witness the exploits[z] of the Lord,
who brings devastation to the earth.[aa]
9 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth.[ab]
He shatters[ac] the bow and breaks[ad] the spear;
he burns[ae] the shields with fire.[af]
10 He says,[ag] “Stop your striving and recognize[ah] that I am God.
I will be exalted[ai] over[aj] the nations! I will be exalted over[ak] the earth!”
11 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is on our side![al]
The God of Jacob[am] is our stronghold![an] (Selah)
The Rape of Tamar
13 Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her.[a] 2 But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick[b] over his sister Tamar. For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her.
3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man. 4 He asked Amnon,[c] “Why are you, the king’s son,[d] so depressed every morning? Can’t you tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar the sister of my brother Absalom.” 5 Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick.[e] When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”
6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight. Then I will eat from her hand.”
7 So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother, who was lying down. She took the dough, kneaded it, made some cakes while he watched,[f] and baked them.[g] 9 But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!”[h] So everyone left.[i]
10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the cakes into the bedroom; then I will eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes that she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom. 11 As she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come on! Get in bed with me,[j] my sister!”
12 But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing! 13 How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools[k] in Israel! Just[l] speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her.[m] He overpowered her and humiliated her by raping her.[n] 15 Then Amnon greatly despised her.[o] His disdain toward her surpassed the love he had previously felt toward her.[p] Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”
16 But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!”[q] But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight[r] and lock the door behind her!” 18 (Now she was wearing a long robe,[s] for this is what the king’s virgin daughters used to wear.) So Amnon’s[t] attendant removed her and bolted the door[u] behind her. 19 Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went on her way, wailing as she went.
20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!”[v] Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.
21 Now King David heard about all these things and was very angry.[w] 22 But Absalom said nothing to Amnon, either bad or good, yet Absalom hated Amnon because he had humiliated his sister Tamar.
Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak
15 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves.[a] 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”[b] 4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. 5 Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another[c] in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Exhortation to Mutual Acceptance
7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised[d] on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers,[e] 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy.[f] As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.”[g] 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”[h] 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.”[i] 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.”[j] 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him,[k] so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Further Testimony About Jesus by John the Baptist
22 After this,[a] Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. 23 John[b] was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim,[c] because water was plentiful there, and people were coming[d] to him[e] and being baptized. 24 (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)[f]
25 Now a dispute came about between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew[g] concerning ceremonial washing.[h] 26 So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River,[i] about whom you testified—see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!”
27 John replied,[j] “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’[k] but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly[l] when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete.[m] 30 He must become more important while I become less important.”[n]
31 The one who comes from above is superior to all.[o] The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things.[p] The one who comes from heaven[q] is superior to all.[r] 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.[s] 34 For the one whom God has sent[t] speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.[u] 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority.[v] 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects[w] the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath[x] remains[y] on him.
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